DAKOTA — He had started traveling down a road of civic duties, but some doubt Joshua Langholf ever would have given up farming.

The 24-year-old who died of an apparent heart problem at his rural Dakota home Sunday, April 6, 2014, had shared with Jim Rackow, co-owner of Rackow Family Sausage in Juda, Wis., that he was capable of fixing his older farming equipment and was working to secure better machinery.

“He was just a very respectable guy,” Rackow said. “He loved the farm. He loved the outdoors.”

Rackow knew Langholf for a decade and described him as an “outgoing young man” who would do his best to help others. Langholf would come in and they’d talk for quite a spell about farming, pigs, old trucks and Langholf’s desire to fix up his deceased father’s truck.

“He’d talk about anything,” Rackow said. “He’d talk to you about whatever.”

The Stephenson County Coroner’s Office is awaiting toxicology results before giving a definitive cause for Langholf’s death. When emergency responders arrived Sunday afternoon, shortly after 3 p.m., he was unconscious in a hay loft, according to Dawn Leamon, Stephenson County’s chief deputy coroner. He died at the Freeport Memorial Hospital, likely of a heart problem, according to the coroner’s office.

He was a 2008 Dakota High School graduate and a 2012 Kishwaukee Community College graduate. Besides serving as Dakota Township’s Road Commissioner, he was on the St. James Lutheran Church council in rural Forreston and was an FFA Alumni member.

He also owned Langholf Landscaping and Lawn Care. In the farming community, he was known for showing cattle and pigs.

Langholf’s sister Jessica, 25, said she’s devastated that her baby brother won’t be able to walk her up the aisle when she gets married later this year. She noted that he was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat in recent years and that the irregularity never stopped him from helping anyone that he was capable of helping.

“He was caring, kind, funny ... always there for you,” she said. “Pretty much anybody can attest to that. He was very adamant that he was going to continue farming. He loved farming.”

She said her baby brother was known for his smiles, tight embraces and, with relatives, managing an affectionate peck on the lips.

Trustee Jerry Albertson heard that Langholf had sold some hay and was throwing it out of the barn Sunday for others to load. When he didn’t come down, the others went up to the hay loft and found him passed out.

Page 2 of 2 - Albertson said the younger man’s death was “a tragic loss.”

“We came to like him a lot,” Albertson said. He noted that Langholf, as road commissioner, had a rough winter to deal with because of the snow that piled on the roads.

Langholf would express some frustration but Albertson said the trustees learned that the money spent for the extra fuel, salt and maintenance needed for snow removal wasn’t as much as other similar-sized communities.

Township Supervisor Tom Bicksler’s phone started ringing Sunday with community members who needed to talk about Langholf’s death.

“He was a hard-working young man and a very nice young man,” he said. “It’s quite a loss to the community. He had his whole future ahead of him, and this happened to him. It’s kind of a hard blow. It took everybody by surprise.”

A visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Friday in the Dakota High School gymnasium, 300 Campus Dr. A funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at St. James Lutheran Church on West Grove Road, southeast of Forreston. Burial will be at the West Grove Cemetery in rural Forreston.